


I am Not Scared of the Elements (But I am Under-Prepared)

by benjji2795



Series: I Choose You [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: And I'm only a little sorry, Gen, Jack and Chowder are also mentioned, M/M, Surprise Parental Visits, This is kinda dramatic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 19:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5714770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjji2795/pseuds/benjji2795
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things get complicated when Dex's parents show up unannounced for Parents' Weekend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I am Not Scared of the Elements (But I am Under-Prepared)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Sara Bareilles' _I Choose You_.
> 
> Thanks to a few tumblr posts and fics, I head-canon Derek as having two moms.
> 
> This turned into something really dramatic/emotional, which wasn't exactly what I had been aiming for at first, but I just went where I felt the story was leading me, so it happened anyway.
> 
> Sequel to _Tell the World (That We Finally Got It All Right)_.
> 
> Shoutout to [DaZeli](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DaZeli/pseuds/DaZeli), my beta-er :)
> 
> Lastly, it’s worth noting that this is the longest fic I’ve written in about 3.5-4 months...hope you guys enjoy it :)

They had been having a pretty good evening.  They’d had a nice dinner and now were watching a good movie on Netflix while cuddling on the couch.  Dex was loose and pretty content, occasionally letting out a quiet hum of satisfaction while Derek distractedly stroked his hair.  It was nice, but then Derek decided he just _had_ to open his big mouth and now that good mood was gone, replaced by nearly unbearable tension.

 

“My moms are coming for Parents’ weekend and they want to meet you,” he blurted out.  Dex stiffened, setting his jaw as he bolted up and turned towards Derek.

 

“You told your moms?!” Dex exclaimed angrily.

 

“No!” Derek answered, backtracking quickly.  “Well, not exactly.”

 

“ _Not exactly?!_ What the hell does that mean?”

 

“I just—I mentioned in passing that I had a boyfriend and they caught what I said and—they told me they wanted to meet him,” Derek explained, feeling thoroughly uncomfortable with the way Dex was trying to use his eyes to bore through his head.  “I never said anything about who he was.”

 

“Oh um, alright,” Dex said, sounding marginally relieved, but not relaxing visibly.

 

“I don’t know why I said it to them, I just thought that since we told the Haus that we could—that you might be…” Derek continued, trailing off at the end, the unspoken clear to them both.  Dex was quiet for a moment, and then deflated, sinking back into his side.

 

“I know, I know,” he sighed.  “You’re right but I’m just…”

 

“Yeah man, I get it,” Derek acknowledged, soothingly running his fingers through the short strands of Dex’s hair.  It circled back to Dex’s parents, like it always did.  Derek had begun to really resent them, if only for the emotional distress their attitudes constantly caused for Dex on an almost daily basis.  “If we ask, I promise they won’t tell, but if you’re still not okay, it’s alright to not want to.”

 

Dex exhaled noisily, rubbing his face harshly.  “Okay—I guess.”

 

“Okay?”

 

“Okay, I guess I’ll meet your moms,” Dex murmured, snuggling up deeper into Derek.

 

“I love you babe,” Derek responded, kissing the top of Dex’s head.

 

“Yeah yeah, I know,” Dex yawned, his eyelids drooping closed.  Dex wasn’t one for saying “I love you” with his words often.  More often than not, he would grumble while showing Derek some kind of affection, which once Derek figured out what that meant, it was just as meaningful.  Dex started to snore softly while dozing off, making Derek giggle softly as he pulled out his phone and texted his moms to make plans.

* * *

 

“Dex, babe, stop it.  You look great,” Derek cooed as he stepped into their bedroom.  Dex had been parked in front of the mirror for the last twenty minutes, smoothing out his shirt, adjusting his tie (a bit of overkill if you asked Derek, but he knew it was useless to try and talk Dex out of wearing it) and fussing with his hair.  Derek walked up and wrapped his arms around Dex’s waist, placing a gentle kiss onto his cheek.  “Trust me babe, they’re going to love you.”

 

“But they’re your _parents_ , Nurse,” Dex said pointedly.  “I want to make a good first impression on them!”

 

“Dex, _chill_ ,” Derek teased, laughing when Dex jokingly swatted at him.  “Come on, let’s meet them out front.”

 

Derek unwound from around Dex, offering his hand, which Dex took unhesitatingly.  Dex was still totally too tense, but nothing Derek could say would change that, not until he met his moms and Dex realized himself that he had nothing to worry about.

 

When they walked out of their apartment building, he could see his moms already just a block away, walking down the sidewalk to meet them.  Derek smiled and waved at them, moving to pull Dex towards them.

 

“Billy!  Honey!” a woman shouted suddenly, and Dex went completely stiff, his face paling.  He dropped Derek’s hand and hurriedly took a step to put some distance between them as the woman came around the corner, appearing from seemingly out of nowhere.  She was tall and stout with curly red hair, and had an average height, balding man trailing behind her.

 

“H-hi mom, d-dad,” Dex stuttered.  At the words “mom” and “dad”, Derek swore he felt his own heart rate skyrocket.  _Dex’s parents_.  What the _fuck_ were they doing _here_???

 

“Surprised to see us?” she asked excitedly, beaming at Dex as Derek took a few steps away towards his moms.

 

“Y-yeah,” Dex spluttered.  “I—I d-didn’t know you were c-coming.”

 

“Well, we decided to surprise you!  It’s great to see you baby,” she exclaimed, embracing Dex tightly.  Over her shoulder, Dex caught Derek’s eyes, panic written all over his face.

 

“ _The team_ ,” Dex mouthed.

 

 _Fuck_ , they had to warn the team that Dex’s parents were here, or else they might say something to accidentally out him.  He quirked his eyes back towards their apartment and Dex understood his silent communication, disentangling from his mom and dragging her in through the door to show them their apartment (thank God they had a bed set up in the guest room, or else that might be very hard to explain).  Derek shot him what he hoped was a comforting smile and then turned, jogging up to his moms who had reached the walk up to their apartment and had stopped to watch the scene that unfolded.

 

“Let’s go to the Haus,” Derek said quickly, barely pausing in front of them.

 

“Well hello to you too,” his mom retorted sarcastically.  Derek scowled and his mama snagged his arm, pulling him into a tight embrace.

 

“Derek, honey, what was that about?” his mama asked, petting his hair soothingly.

 

“That was Dex.  He’s uh, the boyfriend I was telling you about my.  And um, those were his parents—he’s not uh, out to them yet,” Derek mumbled, sagging slightly into his mama’s shoulder.

 

“Understood,” she said as both his moms nodded grimly.

 

“I need to go alert the team, you know, so no one accidentally outs him,” Derek explained, spinning and walking briskly towards the Haus as his moms followed close behind.

 

“Are you alright, love?” his mama asked as they walked.  He knew they weren’t used to seeing him like this, hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped and head hanging.

 

“I—what?” Derek said distractedly.  “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just worried about Dex.  We didn’t know his parents were coming so it’s just—I’m just a little off-balance because Dex was like—panicking and there’s not a _damn_ thing I can do to make him feel better,” he continued bitterly, shrugging.

 

“Yeah, I can imagine that’s a really sucky feeling,” she sighed, comfortingly placing a hand on his shoulder.

 

“This—this is a lot to have to deal with,” his mom added.  “Are you sure you’re okay with us being here?  We can go if you don’t want the extra pressure—we’ll understand.”

 

“No, no, I want you to be here!  I mean, you didn’t get to come last year and who knows if you’ll be able to come next year,” Derek protested.  They were always so busy, and it was nothing short of a minor miracle they were able to get time off to come.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yeah, it’s fine, we can figure it out.  You don’t have to go,” Derek nodded as they trudged up the Haus porch steps.  _It’ll be nice to have someone else here for support_ he didn’t say, but he was sure that was understood anyway.

 

“Mmm, what is that delightful smell?” Mama asked when they stepped inside.

 

“Oh, that’s Bitty, you know, the baker I was telling you about?  Yeah, anyway,” Derek answered distractedly before bellowing.  “ _HAUS MEETING IN THE LIVING ROOM RIGHT THIS FUCKING SECOND!_ ”

 

“Goodness!  Can y’all not be screamin’ profanities as loud as you can when parents are s’posed to be here?” Bitty exclaimed in shock as he emerged from the kitchen.  “Oh Nursey!  I didn’t realize you even knew how to yell—but can you not do that again?  We need to make a good—wait, where’s Dex?”

_Huh, he hadn’t even realized they had reached a point where it was odd for them to not show up to places together._

 

“That’s what this is about,” Derek said grimly.

 

That was enough to stop Bitty’s lecture, and he nodded and silently went into the living room, perching on one of the lounge chairs.  After a few minutes, eventually Chowder, Lardo, Ransom and Holster all trickled in, watching Derek with concerned curiosity.

 

“Dex’s parents showed up unannounced,” Derek explained simply once they were all gathered.  Bitty gasped, his hand flying up to his mouth, and everyone else either cringed or frowned (or did both (Chowder)).  “So no one can say a word about him or about us, or else I swear to God I will actually kill the person responsible for outing him.”

 

“That person won’t be gettin’ pie either!” Bitty said sternly, adding his most severe threat.

 

“Bro, I promise we would _never_ ,” said Holster sincerely, and the rest of the guys murmured in agreement.

 

“And we’re here for you bro, if you need anything,” Ransom continued when the murmurs died down.

 

“Thanks guys,” Derek said, feeling a little choked up at their outpouring of support.  “Spread the word to the rest of the team, and I’ll…”

 

He trailed off when the front door slammed.  Dex stomped around the corner and, upon seeing Derek, flung himself at him.

 

“I can’t do this, I can’t do this, _I can’t do this_ ,” Dex repeated, burying his head into the crook of Derek’s neck as his entire body convulsed violently.

 

“Babe—Dex— _Will_ —look at me,” Derek said firmly.  When he did, Derek cradled his head carefully with his hands.  “It’s going to be okay, I promise it’s going to be okay.”

 

“They’ve already started asking me questions I can’t answer,” Dex whispered faintly.  He wasn’t crying yet, but looked like he was close it.  “I—I can’t handle a whole weekend of this—I just can’t.”

 

“I know it’s hard, but I don’t want you to do anything you would regret just because you’re scared and upset and panicking,” Derek replied, rubbing his thumb soothingly across Dex’s jawline.

 

“ _Derek_ —”

 

“Look, we’re gonna get through this, alright?  Just—just try and stay calm.  Can you do that?” Derek asked.  Dex nodded and then he kissed him softly for a long time.  After a moment, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

 

“Dex’s parents are walking up to the Haus,” his mom said.  Derek nodded slightly, reluctantly prying Dex off of him.

 

“We’ll talk about this more tonight, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Dex answered just as his parents came into the Haus.  Dex rigidly walked over to them, offering to show them parents around the Haus, and Derek pulled his moms into the kitchen, where Bitty was in the middle of baking several pies.

 

“Bitty?  Bits are you—are you stress-baking?” Derek asked, since Bitty rarely ever made more than one or two pies at once, and currently there appeared to be _at least_ four in progress.

 

“Mama and Coach are going to be here in about an hour,” Bitty explained breathlessly, flitting about frantically.

 

“So Dex isn’t the only one getting fucked over by his parents this weekend,” Derek sighed, already feeling exhausted as he rested his head on the table.

 

“Goodness, it’s not like that,” Bitty gasped.  “It’s just—they’re meetin’ Jack for the first time—as my boyfriend—and I’m nervous—Coach has been actin’ really weird ever since I came out over the summer and I ain’t sure how he’s gonna react to meetin’ him.”

 

“I guarantee he still loves you.  I’m sure he was just surprised and as parents, sometimes when you’re surprised, you just don’t know how to react, that’s all,” Derek’s mom chimed in.  Bitty jumped at the unfamiliar voice, turning around to see who it was.

 

“Lord, I didn’t realize anyone else was in here!”

 

“Oh yeah, sorry Bits, these are my moms, Liz and Christa,” Derek said, quickly introducing them.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Bitty grinned, and then frowned, turning back to his pies.  “Anyway, I’m sorry to be complainin’ about my problems to y’all, I’m sure that’s not why you’re in here and besides you have much worse to be dealin’ with and—”

 

Derek’s mama scoffed.  “It’s quite alright, honey.”

 

Just then, Dex came shuffling into the kitchen.

 

“Dex, you’re just in time!” Bitty said cheerily, scooping up a pie from the counter and carrying it over to the table.  “This pie just finished cooling so y’all can sit down and have a slice.”

 

Dex stopped, his eyes going back and forth between his parents and Derek’s moms.

 

“Well I was actually thinking—” Dex started to mumble, before being overruled by his mom.

 

“That sounds lovely uh—”

 

“Eric, but you can call me Bitty.”

 

“Yes Eric, thank you.  Oh pardon me, where are my manners?  I’m Shannon and this is my husband Patrick, and our son, Will,” she said, sitting down on the opposite side of the table from Derek and his moms and extending her hand.

 

“Liz,” his mom replied sweetly.  “My wife, Christa and our son, Derek.”

 

“It’s very nice to meet you.  And Derek,” Shannon chuckled, turning to face him.  “Billy talks about you quite often.  Sometimes it seems from the way he talks, that you’re his only friend here, though I’m sure that’s not the case.”

 

It very nearly physically pained Derek to not smirk at Dex, who was looking down at his lap and turning scarlet, but he managed; such an expression might be a little too obvious (though he was definitely getting chirped for that later).

 

“Yeah, well Dex is a cool dude, so we hang out a lot,” Derek said, shrugging.  He meant it to sound casual, but it came out being more sincere than he had intended.  Shannon smiled at him knowingly (which was definitely unnerving) and turned back to talk to his moms.

 

Their parents continued to chatter inanely while they ate, and he and Dex tried to avoid looking at each other.  Just as they were finishing up, Bitty yelped.

 

“I take it his parents are here,” Liz chortled.

 

“Yeah, that’s probably our cue to head out,” Derek said, gathering up plates as he rose to his feet.  He set them down in the sink, turning to Dex.  “Come on Dex, we need to go back and grab a couple things before our game.”

 

Dex nodded silently.

 

“Oh, well it was lovely to meet you all,” Shannon smiled.  “I’m sure we’ll see you at the game this afternoon.”

 

“Yes, you will.  If you’re not already sitting with anyone, you’re welcome to join us,” Christa offered as Derek and Dex made a beeline for the door.

 

“Why we certainly…” was the beginning of the response they heard as they headed outside.

 

Dex only started to breathe again once they were a couple blocks away from the Haus.

 

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Derek said reassuringly, reaching over to take Dex’s hand, which he did after a second’s hesitation.

 

“They—they were so _nice_ to your moms,” Dex said in a stunned whisper.

 

“Maybe they don’t care as much as you think they do,” Derek replied with cautious optimism in his voice.

 

“Yeah, I don’t know—maybe,” Dex shrugged, like he didn’t really believe him.  They walked the rest of the way in silence, waiting until they were in the privacy of their apartment to say anything else.

 

“Hey, c’mere,” Derek said once they were inside, pulling Dex into his arms.  “You’re doing great babe.”

 

“Thanks,” Dex said, sagging into Derek, some of his tension unwinding for the few minutes they stood there in their own world, embracing tightly as Derek rubbed Dex’s back tenderly.

 

“C’mon, let’s go play some hockey,” Derek said, breaking the calm silence, dragging them both back into the reality.  “You won’t have to think about this as much on the rink.”

 

“Alright, _Jack_ ,” Dex chirped as he walked away.  Derek threw his head back and laughed, following Dex to grab their gear and head down to Faber.

* * *

 

The game itself was uneventful as far as hockey games go, a routine 3-1 win.  He and Dex played a solid game, despite the palpable lingering tension they both couldn’t help but carry onto the rink.  Dex’s parents caught him on their way back to the locker room, so Derek continued on and let them talk.  Dex trudged in only a minute or two after him, and they both changed and showered in silence before sitting back down together on a bench in the locker room for a few extra moments.

 

“They want to take me out for dinner,” Dex mumbled, laying his head on Derek’s shoulder and tangling their fingers together.

 

“Alright, that’s chill,” Derek replied, squeezing Dex’s hand.

 

“But we were—”

 

“I know, but babe, it’s going to look weird if you turn them down to have dinner with me and my moms.”

 

“You could always come with me instead.”

 

“Nah, my moms might kill me if I ditched them.  Besides, it’s probably not a good idea anyway,” Derek shook his head.  “I’m not sure I could keep my hands off you if I did.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Dex sighed heavily.  “I wouldn’t be able to either.  It’s just—I don’t want to be alone with them.”

 

“You can do it,” Derek said encouragingly.  “And if you think you can’t, just remember that I’ll be home waiting for you when it’s over.”

 

“Well, when you put it that way…” Dex smirked.

 

“That’s what _you_ think’ll happen,” Derek responded, shoving Dex playfully as they both laughed.  “Now get outta here—before it starts looking suspicious.”

 

“Yeah,” Dex said morosely, the light mood lost.  He pecked Derek on the cheek quickly before adding: “I’ll see you later.”

 

“See ya Dex.”

 

Derek hung back for a minute and then left to find his moms.

 

“You played great, honey,” Christa cooed, hugging Derek tightly.

 

“Yeah, you and Dex make a pretty good team out there,” Liz added, clapping Derek on the back.  “Speaking of, where is he?”

 

“Oh, his parents wanted to do something with him, so I said to go ahead and go with them,” Derek shrugged nonchalantly.

 

“Good thinking,” Christa hummed thoughtfully.  “So now that’s it just the three of us, what do you want to do honey?”

 

“Why don’t we just go back to my place and make something and then like, chill?” Derek suggested, not wanting to take the chance of being out somewhere when Dex got back.

 

“Alright,” Liz agreed.

 

“But you’re letting your mom and I do the cooking,” Christa continued as they started walking.  “We all know you can’t cook for shit.”

 

“Hey, Dex doesn’t mind my cooking!” Derek protested indignantly.

 

“I bet it’s only because he’s worse,” Liz sassed.

 

“Well…” Derek murmured to his moms’ raucous laughter.

* * *

 

It was late and his moms were already gone by the time Dex stormed into the apartment.  Whereas the first time Dex was alone with his parents, he was on the verge of crying, this time Dex was furious.  He slammed the door, _hard_ , pulling Derek out of his dozing haze.

 

“I cannot _believe_ them!” he growled, standing in front of the couch, his face blazing and his fists clenched tightly.

 

“What’s the matter Dex?” Derek asked worriedly, latching onto Dex’s arm and forcibly pulling him down onto the couch and into his side.

 

“They just won’t stop _pushing_ ,” Dex fumed.  “Even when I said I didn’t want to talk about it!”

 

“What were they making you talk about?” Derek probed.  He didn’t think that Dex’s parents forced him to come out—at least not yet; he fully expected tears from Dex when that happened, not anger.

 

“My love life,” Dex said disgustedly.  “They wouldn’t stop asking about girls, and what dates have I been on and why don’t I seem interested—I think they _know_ and they’re just _waiting_ for me to fuck up and tell them.”

 

“And do you want to?” Derek questioned calmly.

 

“Do I want to what?”

 

“Tell them.”

 

Dex’s eyes widened at him in surprise.  “Oh—I—no?  Maybe?  I don’t know,” he replied, huffing out a long sigh.  “I’m scared, but I just don’t want to keep doing this to you,” he added quietly after a long pause, burying his head into Derek’s chest.

 

“Nah, don’t worry about me.  It’s all chill.”

 

“You’re too good to me,” Dex whispered.  “After all the shit I’ve been putting you through since day one—and you’ve never…I don’t understand why.”

 

“I love you and Dex, man, love isn’t something scientific, something that’s meant to be understood or could ever _be_ understood.  It’s something we’re meant to do and feel, not something we’re supposed to explain,” Derek answered.

 

“You’re such a fucking English major,” Dex grumbled, squeezing his arms tighter around Derek and burrowing his head deeper into his chest.

 

“Yeah, and _you’re_ the one fucking an English major,” Derek chuckled.

 

“Yeah, I am,” Dex said through a startled laugh.  “But not tonight—I don’t think I could look you in the eye in front of my parents tomorrow if we did.”

 

“Fair enough.  How ‘bout going to bed to get some sleep then?”

* * *

 

“All we have to do is make it through this brunch and then we’ll be in the clear,” Derek said, holding both of Dex’s hands as they stood on the Haus porch the next morning.  Dex was jittery, constantly looking over his shoulder for approaching parents.

 

“Y-yeah,” he stuttered.

 

“Alright, let’s do it,” Derek spoke, releasing his hands and moving to go inside.

 

“Hey Derek,” Dex mumbled, grabbing his arm and gently pulling him back.  “Thanks for—you know…”

 

“No need to thank me,” Derek shrugged.  “I’m just doing what a good boyfriend should do.”

 

“Still…”

 

“You’re welcome,” said Derek sincerely, quickly pecking Dex on the lips without thinking.

 

“Ahem,” someone cleared their throat and they both jumped away.

 

“For as hard as you two are trying to hide, that was an awful careless thing to do,” Liz chided the startled boys.

 

“Sorry,” Derek murmured, his face turning bright red out of embarrassment.

 

“It’s fine,” Dex responded, turning scarlet himself (that probably had more to do with the fact that his boyfriend’s parents saw them kissing than anything else).  “Let’s just get this fucking brunch over with,” he continued as they filed into the Haus.

 

“William Poindexter, how _dare_ you talk about my brunch with that tone of voice,” Bitty scolded, pointing at him threateningly with his spatula.

 

“Sorry Bits, I’m sure your brunch will be great.  It’s just the idea of having to spend more time with my parents—” Dex groaned.

 

“How dare you talk about your _parents_ with that tone of voice,” a woman called shrilly from the kitchen.

 

 _“Mama!”_ Bitty squeaked, quickly disappearing back into the kitchen.  They all shrugged and wandered over to the living room.  The only other parents that came besides Bitty’s, Derek’s and Dex’s were Chowder’s, who were already sitting on the green couch with him.  Jack was standing awkwardly up against the wall next to someone who Derek figured could only be Coach, and the rest of the team was scattered around the room, leaving Dex’s parents as the last to arrive.

 

They all found places to sit, Derek and Dex being careful to not to sit next to each other.  When Dex’s parents entered the room, a hush fell over the living room.  Dex pasted on a fake smile and walked over to greet them while Derek glared at the rest of the room, which did nothing to ease the tense atmosphere.  What did was Bitty and Suzanne declaring that brunch was ready, followed by the stampede of hockey boys making a run for the food.

* * *

 

By ten minutes into brunch, Derek had decided that warning the team about Dex’s parents was actually a _terrible_ idea, because, other than Bitty, it turns out they had no sense of subtlety.  None of them.  _At all_.  They wouldn’t stop shooting strange looks at him or Dex or Dex’s parents, no matter how many times or how intensely Derek glared at them.  Dex had noticed and was steadily turning redder and Derek sensed the waves of frustration radiating off of him (as could half of the room, _including_ Dex’s parents).

 

“Alright, that’s it—”

 

“Shannon,” Patrick said lowly in warning.

 

“No Pat, I’ve had enough of this.  Billy, you have been acting strangely all weekend—”

 

Dex looked up like a frightened deer in a car’s headlights, and the rest the table watched with horrified fascination.

 

“—don’t look at me like that, of course we noticed.”

 

“Shannon, you can’t push him like this—”

 

“Yes I can, because excuse me for being his _parent_ , but I am worried that there’s something wrong that he’s not telling us!”

 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Dex muttered through clenched teeth.  Derek sucked in a breath, bracing himself; when Dex started talking through gritted teeth, he was just about at his breaking point, desperately trying to hold it together.  If his mom kept after him like this, he was going to crack.

 

“Really?  Because it certainly doesn’t seem like it,” Shannon berated him.  “You’ve been so tense and quiet, and you’ve been avoiding telling us _anything_ —”

 

“Fine!  Fine, you really want to know what’s going on?” Dex shouted, jumping to his feet and tensing up into a defensive posture.  “I haven’t told you about my life here because I can’t tell you anything without making you hate me!”

 

“ _What on God’s green Earth would make you think_ —” Shannon said, astonished, before Dex interrupted her again.

 

“Because I’m gay, mom, okay?  I’m gay, and I have a boyfriend, and I know what you think about that, I’ve had to listen to you talk about gay people with such disgust my entire life!  So I’m sorry that I acted weird just so I could still have parents that liked me!” Dex finished and then stomped out.

 

After he recovered from the shock, Derek shot up and quickly followed him, the wake of Dex’s outburst leaving the kitchen dead silent.

 

“Will,” Derek said, knocking on the door to the bathroom.

 

“It’s n-not locked,” Dex hiccupped.  Derek quickly slipped inside, settling next to Dex, who had curled up on the floor.

 

“You’re really brave, you know that right?” Derek spoke, wrapping an arm around Dex’s shoulders.

 

“W-what the fuck, N-Nurse?”

 

“You said to me, not even two months ago, that you were _never_ going to come out to your parents.  But you stood up and told them, even though you felt sure that they would reject you.  That takes a lot of guts and I’m proud of you,” Derek explained.  Dex looked at him, bewildered.

 

“S-so what?  My p-parents h-hate me n-now,” Dex spluttered, putting his head into Derek’s shoulder as he started to cry.

 

“Will, anyone who would hate you for who you love is someone who never deserved to be in your life in the first place.”

 

“Y-yeah, I g-guess,” Dex sniffled, though his words rang hollow as he sobbed into Derek’s shirt and Derek clung to him tightly, crying with him a little and feeling as if Dex would fall to pieces without his arms around him.

 

“Besides, you know the guys here will always have your back, and my moms will be there for you, and I’ll always be there for you too,” Derek murmured.

 

“I-I love y-you,” Dex whispered, squeezing Derek back tighter.

 

“I love you too,” Derek replied, kissing the top of Dex’s head.

 

He didn’t know how long he sat with Dex on the bathroom floor, holding him together, but eventually, there was a knock on the door.

 

“You okay bros?” he heard Holster ask.  Derek pulled Dex to his feet, Dex hanging on him for support as he opened the door.

 

“Yeah, we’ll be fine eventually,” Derek said softly.

 

“Look bro, I don’t want you to be surprised, so just so you know, your parents are still here,” Holster added, placing a hand gently on Dex’s shoulder.

 

“Maybe we should go out the back,” Derek mused.

 

“N-no, it’s fine.  I’ll b-be okay,” Dex mumbled.

 

“Alright,” Holster shrugged, turning to go up to the attic.

 

They went down the stairs, and Derek intended to go right past the living room, where Dex’s parents, his moms, Suzanne, Coach, Bitty and Jack were sitting, and go out the door, but when they saw him, Shannon shot up and walked over to the doorway.

 

“My dear, my dear son,” Shannon cried softly, her eyes red and puffy.  “I’m so sorry.”

 

“W-why?  Are you sorry that you hate me?  Sorry that I’m a disgrace to my family?  Sorry that—” Dex replied sharply, his voice wobbly but full of anger.

 

“No honey, stop!  None of that is true!  I couldn’t hate you and you’re not a disgrace—I’m so sorry for ever having done anything to make you think there was ever something you could ever do or be to make us not love you just the way you are,” she answered, dabbing at the tears that were starting to fall from her eyes again.  Dex looked at her, wide-eyed, and let out a choked cry as he stumbled into her arms.  “I wanted to tell you that right away but—you ran away too fast and then Derek followed and—I knew that you two needed some time,” she continued.

 

“B-but—all those things you said and—why don’t you—I don’t understand,” Dex blubbered as Shannon guided them over to the couch.  When they sat down, room was quickly made for Derek to sit next to Dex, which he did, taking Dex’s hand into his own for support.

 

“Dear, I’ve known this day was coming for a long time.”

 

Dex looked over at his dad, who nodded in agreement.

 

“Wha—how?”

 

“Billy,” she chuckled.  “Teen-aged you was not exactly subtle.  Among many things, the multitude of lingering glances over the years made it pretty obvious.  And if we didn’t know before, well, let’s just say, when you showed us your apartment yesterday, it was fairly clear that no one had been living in the room you _said_ was yours.”

 

“Oh,” Dex swallowed thickly, taking a minute to process everything she had said.  “But—but why did you say all that stuff—when you knew?”

 

“I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve been guilty far too many times of simply parroting what others around me have said, and not thinking for myself, and most certainly not thinking about how those things would sound to you and make you feel about yourself.”

 

Dex leaned back, looking like he’d gotten the wind knocked out of him.

 

“I—I don’t know what to say,” he said.

 

“Perhaps you could start by officially introducing Derek to us as your boyfriend,” she replied, making Dex flush brightly.

 

“Mom, dad, this is my boyfriend Derek,” Dex murmured, gesturing subtly back and forth between them.  “Nurse, these are my parents.”

 

Derek grinned and waved.

 

“Oh no dear,” she tsk-ed, standing up.  “You’re going to get up and give me a proper hug.”

 

Derek shrugged and rose to his feet, being crushed the second he did.

 

“Thank you for taking such good care of him,” she whispered in his ear.

 

“Yeah, of course,” Derek whispered back.  When they pulled apart, the room applauded (the team had all gathered again and watched the whole scene unfold), and Derek pulled Dex up and hugged him tightly.  “I’m really happy for you.”

 

“It’s—yeah, thank you,” Dex said, gazing at Derek with a look that could only be described at the literal definition of “heart-eyes”.  “I couldn’t have ever done this without you.”

 

“I was just—”

 

“—being a good boyfriend.  You were a whole lot more than that, but I know you’ll be modest about it if I try to argue, so just shut up and kiss me,” Dex interrupted, as the hockey team started to softly chant _kiss, kiss, kiss_ (over Bitty’s protests of _y’all, stop it_ ).

 

“What?”

 

Dex rolled his eyes fondly, grabbing Derek’s face and pulling him in for a slow, chaste kiss.

 

“I love you,” Derek said, looking dazed when Dex pulled away.

 

“Yeah Derek, I love you too.”


End file.
